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Bastrop artists celebrate 55 years of friendship with special exhibit

Bastrop artists celebrate 55 years of friendship with special exhibit

Artists and best friends of 55 years Vicky Balcou (left) and Tina Woodruff (right) are featuring a collaborative exhibit at the R.A. Green Mercantile on Main Street in Bastrop through the end of October. MARY HUBER/BASTROP ADVERTISER

Vicky Balcou and Tina Woodruff met at the University of Texas at Austin in 1959. They had been assigned as roommates at the Scottish Rite Dormitory, a women’s only residence still located on West 27th Street. Balcou was a young, creative fine arts major; Woodruff a journalist.

The two were as different as night and day: Woodruff more rowdy and troublesome; Balcou was markedly more buttoned-up. But the two women took to each other instantly and became fast friends. Now, 55 years later, they finish each other’s sentences, and as artists, also each other’s work.

The pair recently collaborated on four pieces, trading a canvas back and forth until both were happy with the finished product. The paintings will be on exhibit this month at R.A. Green Mercantile in Bastrop as part of a show titled “Old Friends, New Directions,” which also features the women’s individual work.

The art is fitting of the women themselves. Balcou, a classically trained artist with a long-running commercial career, is measured and meticulous, her pieces outlined and inspired. At the exhibit, she shows a series of triangular compositions — some darker, others with bolder colors — as well as a handful of pieces that show women drawn to look like mountains.

Woodruff, the wilder of the two, sketches more freely, bringing the canvas to life before she has an idea of what she’s creating. Recently, she’s battled problems in her hands, forcing her to evolve to more abstract pieces, including a series of bright, aerial images that she paints and then assigns meaning and place.

On a recent Monday, the two women scuttle about Woodruff’s studio in Smithville, talking about love, art and their youth, sharing coming-of-age stories and of their special relationship that’s withstood the years.

“I’m the kite; she’s the string,” Woodruff said. “We’ve just been such close friends all this time.”

Balcou, who comes from a family of artists, had been inspired by the canvas at a young age. Woodruff took up the craft well after college, inspired by her roommate’s form and creative spirit. After working together at an advertising agency in Austin while at UT, the women took separate paths: Woodruff continuing in the ad world in New York and Houston, Balcou as a product designer at Fitz & Floyd. The two married several times, started families and some years went months without speaking.

“It’d be two years of not speaking to each other, and then I’d call up or she’d call up and say, ‘Are we speaking? If not, why not? Do you remember?’” Balcou said.

“We’d get together right where we left off,” Woodruff said.

Fifteen years ago, Woodruff returned to Texas to be closer to her daughter. She and her husband, Jim, looked for a place they could garden, making certain it had a thriving art scene, and settled on Bastrop.

Seven years after Woodruff’s move, Balcou joined her best friend in Central Texas.

“A good girlfriend that you’ve had for 55 years, where do you find that? They don’t sell that in the store,” Woodruff said.

“Shared history is hard to find,” Balcou said.

Today, they spend much of their time together, harmoniously bickering between fits of laughter. They collaborate on art and keep much of their pieces on permanent display at the Lost Pines Artisans Alliance in downtown Smithville. Their special joint exhibit will run at the Mercantile through the end of October. The gallery is open Thursday through Sunday for viewing, and admission is free.